Chief of Staff
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Centre for Wildlife Studies
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Full Time
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Bangaluru
- March 31, 2026
Job Description
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Start Date: Immediate
Location: Bengaluru
The Chief of Staff will partner closely with the Chief Executive Officer to drive organizational execution, streamline systems, and oversee cross-functional initiatives in a rapidly growing organization. This role requires a high-agency, strategic, and execution-oriented leader who thrives in ambiguous environments, spots organizational gaps early, and independently drives solutions end-to-end. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in organizational building, systems implementation, and cross-team coordination in a growing or fast-scaling environment. The Chief of Staff will serve as a key bridge between the CEO, leadership team, and external stakeholders, ensuring that priorities translate into action and that the organization operates with clarity, accountability, and momentum.
Key Responsibilities
- Act as a strategic thought partner to the CEO, helping define organizational priorities and ensuring they are clearly communicated and executed across teams.
- Translate strategy into structured execution plans with clear ownership, milestones, and accountability, and track progress across key organizational initiatives.
- Proactively identify organizational gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities, and independently design and drive solutions end-to-end.
- Lead and monitor the execution of high-priority initiatives across operations, fundraising, HR, technology, and communications, ensuring cross-team alignment and timely delivery.
- Build and implement systems for project management, decision tracking, internal communication, and information flow to strengthen organizational effectiveness.
- Introduce and manage enterprise tools such as CRMs, project management platforms, knowledge repositories, and AI-enabled productivity tools, ensuring adoption and consistent use across teams.
- Support leadership team processes including annual planning, progress reviews, and resolution of cross-functional bottlenecks in collaboration with the CEO, Directors, and Program Managers.
- Represent the CEO Office in meetings with donors, advisors, partners, and senior stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and diligent follow-through.
- Support fundraising and external engagement through proposal development, narrative building, data consolidation, and coordinated donor communication.
- Strengthen organization-wide communication and contribute to outward-facing storytelling that effectively conveys the organization’s work, impact, and vision.
- Lead special strategic projects requiring cross-department collaboration, structured problem-solving, and high execution ownership.
Required Skills
- At least 15+ years of experience in a Development Sector Organization leading cross-functional projects, systems-building, or strategic execution in a growing organization (social enterprise, startup, consulting, climate/sustainability sector preferred).
- Proven ability to operate with high agency and ownership, identifying problems early and driving solutions from concept through execution.
- Exceptional project and operations leadership, with a proven ability to bring structure, clarity, and accountability to complex and unstructured settings.
- Highly proactive, execution-oriented self-starter who anticipates needs, drives initiatives forward, and works independently with minimal oversight.
- Outstanding communication skills, including writing, facilitation, and executive-level presentations.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities while collaborating effectively across diverse, multidisciplinary teams.
- Strong analytical and organizational skills, with hands-on experience implementing and managing digital systems (CRMs, project management platforms, and knowledge-management tools).
- Strong external-facing capability, with confidence engaging donors, partners, advisors, and senior stakeholders.
- Comfort using and experimenting with technology and AI tools to improve productivity, decision-making, and organizational systems.
- Entrepreneurial, collaborative, and mission-driven, with strong curiosity and interest in wildlife conservation, climate action, and rural development.
Application Process
- Letter of Intent (1 – 2 pages), describing personal interest and experience.
- Professional References (minimum of 3 with contact details).
- Resume/CV with relevant work experience.
Please fill the form here to be considered for this position.